Toy gun with means for propelling toy bullets



Jan. 20, 1953 1. ROSENBLOOM 2,625,927

TOY GUN WITH MEANS FOR PROPELLING TOY BULLETS Filed March 10, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 L INVENTOR. Irving Rosenbloom fnm w Patented Jan. 20, 1953 TOY GUN WITH MEANS FOR PROPELLING TOY BULLETS Irving Rosenbloom, Great Neck, N. Y., assignor to Renwal Manufacturing Co., Inc., Mineola, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 10, 1951, Serial No. 214,859

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a toy gun adapted to propel toy bullets.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel mechanism fOr a toy gun wherein harmless toy bullets may be propelled from the gun barrel in response to actuation of the trigger. In the specific embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, this nove1 mechanism comprises a rotatably mounted cylinder having a plurality of bullet chambers which successively move into alignment with the gun barrel as the cylinder is rotated. A coil spring is mounted within each of the barrel chambers so that when bullets are placed therein the springs will be compressed and thereby urge the bullets towards the forward open ends of the chambers. A closure means in the form of a plate is located adjacent the forward ends of the bullet chambers and serves to retain the bullets therein until the chambers have been moved into alignment with the gun barrel. That is, when a particular bullet chamber has moved into alignment with the gun barrel, the chamber is no longer closed by the plate and hence the bullet is propelled by the coil spring forwardly through the forward open end of the chamber and through the gun barrel.

Another novel feature of the invention resides in the mechanism for rotating the cylinder in response to actuation of a trigger, the cylinder and trigger being provided with a novel means for stopping rotation of the cylinder when the next succeeding bullet chamber has moved into aligned position with respect to the gun barrel.

Still another novel feature of the invention resides in the provision of a movable hammer together with a mechanism for actuating the hammer in response to movements of the trigger, thereby providing a realistic effect as the gun is fired.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a toy gun having the above noted features but which is nevertheless constructed with simple mechanisms whereby the gun may be economically manufactured and sold at low cost.

Other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a toy gun in the form of a revolver embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but having parts broken away to show the mechanism within the sun;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view as seen from the left-hand end of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view as seen from the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and shows a ratchet means on the rear of the hcylinder and the trigger pawl co-acting therewit Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cylinder;

Fig. '7 is an exploded sectional View showing the several parts of the cylinder in disassembled relation; and

Fig. 8 is a front elevational view of the cylinder cap.

The toy gun embodying the present invention is shown in the drawings in the form of a revolver comprising generally a frame ll having a tubular barrel l2 and a handle ll secured thereto. A cylinder, indicated generally at I3, is rotatably mounted on the frame II and is constructed in the following manner, as shown in Figs. 6 to 8. The cylinder l3 comprises a cylindrical portion l4 having a plurality of bullet chambers l5 extending therethrough and parallel to the axis of the cylinder I3. The rear end of the cylindrical portion I4 is provided with a cylinder cap I6 having in its forward face a plurality of circular recesses I! each corresponding to one of the bullet chambers IS. A projection I8 is formed within each of the recesses l1 and extends forwardly from the bottom thereof.

The rear face of the cylinder cap I6 is provided with a rearwardly extending shaft l9 for rotatably mounting one end of the cylinder I3 and the forward face of the cylinder cap I6 is provided with a stud key 20 having a flattened upper face 2|. The key 20 is adapted to fit within a corresponding shaped recess 22 having a flattened upper surface 23 enga ing said flattened surface 2| whereby the cylindrical portion. [4 and the cylinder cap I6 may be non-rotatably fixed with respect to each other. The forward face of the cylindrical portion 14 is provided with a forwardly extending shaft 24 .for rotatably mounting the forward end of the cylinder I3 to the frame I l.

As seen best in Fig. 2, the forward shaft 24 is rotatably mounted within a bearing 25 fixed to the frame H and the rear shaft I9 is similarly rotatably mounted within a bearing 26 also secured to the frame II. It will thus be seen that the cylinder I3 is rotatably mounted within the frame II for rotation about a horizontal axis parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of gun barrel l2. Adjacent to the shaft l9 and forwardly thereof there is provided a shoulder portion 2! adapted to abut against the rear bearing 26, this abutting relationship being maintained by a spring Washer 28 which surrounds the forward shaft 24 and reacts against the forward bearing25. so. as to bias the cylinder I3 rearwardly.

As stated above, each of the recesses II formed in the forward face of the cylinder cap I3 is in.

alignment with a respective one of the bullet chambers I5 formed in the cylindrical portion I4. As shown in Fig. 2, a plurality of coil springs 29' are each located within one of the bulletchams bers I5. The rear end of eachcoil spring 23 fits within the annular channel formed by the recesses I1 and the projection I8 and is anchored thereto by any suitable means.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3, a circular plate 30 is fixedly mounted on the frame II and is located immediately adjacent the forward end of the cylinder I3. An opening in plate 34'! serves as the. bearing means 25 for the forward shaft 24 of the cylinder IS. A portion of the plate 30 is cut away asat 3| so as to expose the forward open end of each of the bullet chambers I5 as the latter move in succession past the cut away portion of the plate 34, thereby allowing toy bullets to be inserted into the bullet chambers I5 as the latter successively assume the position of that bullet chamber designated I5 in Fig. 3.

Referring again to Fig. 2, a trigger 32 is pivotally mounted on the frame I I by means of a pivot pin 33. A pawl 34 is pivotally mounted at its lower endto the trigger. 32 by means of apin 35. As shown in Fig. 5, the rear face of the cylinder cap I6 is provided with a circular series of ratchet notches 36 adapted to be successively engaged by the upper end of the pawl 34. The rear face of the cylinder cap I6 is also provided with a circularly disposed series of approximately radial abutments 31 adapted to be successively engaged by a member 38 projecting from the trigger 32, for a purpose to be described below.

A spring 39, normally under tension, is connected at its forward end 40 to the trigger 32, the rearward end of the spring being anchored to the handle I3 at 4|. It will thus be seen that the spring 39 biases trigger 32 about the pivot 33 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2. A spring 42 reacts against the trigger 32 and the pawl 34 so as to bias the latter about the pivot 35 ina counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2, thereby tending to maintain the. upper endof the pawl 34 in engagement with the ratchet notches 36 on the rear face of cylinder cap I6..

When trigger 32 is actuated by pulling its finger portion 32, the trigger 32 will pivot about the pin 33 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2 and against the tension of the spring 39. The pawl 34-will thus be moved upwardly and its engagement with one of the ratchet notches 36 will causethe. cylinder cap I 3 and hencethe entire cylinder I3 to rotate in a clock wise direction as viewed in Figure 5 until the next succeeding bullet chamber I5 reaches the uppermost position where it is in axial alignment withthe barrel I2. At this instant the projecting member 38 of the trigger 32 will abut against one of the abutments 31 on the cylinder cap I5, thereby preventing continued rotation of the cylinder I 3 and stopping said rotation at the exact point where said next bullet chamber I5 is in correct alignment with respect to the barrel I2. Upon release of the trigger 32' the spring 38 will pivot the trigger 32 about the pivot 33 back to the original position and in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2, thereby enabling the upper end of the pawl 34 to ratchet over and get beneath the next succeeding ratchet notch 35, whereby upon actuating the trigger. 32 .the. above described cycle is repeated.

Referring again to Figure 2, the toy gun may be provided with a hammer 43 adapted to be moved in a realistic manner in response to actuation of the trigger 32. The lower end of the hammer 43 has a forwardly extending longitudinal slot 44 having opposite closed ends 45, 46. A pin 4-! is secured to the frame I I and extends through the slot 44. A tension spring 48 is connected on its rearward end 49 to the hammer 43 and at its forward end 50 to the frame I I. Since the spring 48 is normally under tension, the hammer 43 is biased forwardly so as to maintain the rear end 46 of slot 44 in engagement with the pin 4?. Furthermore, the action of the spring 48 tends to pivot the hammer 43 forwardly or counter-clockwise about the pin 4'! so as to maintain the hammer head or firing pin 5| of the hammer 43 in abutment with the portion 52 of the frame II.

The lower portion of the hammer 43 is provided with a flat cam surface 53 having a rounded forward portion 54 for coaction with a cam member 55 on the trigger 32 in the following manner. When the finger portion 32' of the trigger 32 is pulled rearwardly so as to pivot the latter in a counter-clockwise direction about the pin 33, cam member 55 of trigger 32 will engage the flat cam surface 53 so as to pivot the hammer 43 rearwardly in a clockwise direction about the pivot 47. Continued movement of the trigger 32 causes the cam member 55 to ratchet past the forward edge of the fiat cam surface 53, thereby allowing the tension spring 48 to quickly pivot the hammer 43 forwardly in a firing stroke.

When the trigger 32 is released the tension spring 39 pivots trigger 32 in a clockwise direction thereby causing the rear rounded surface 56 of cam member 55 to engage the rounded cam surface 54 of the hammer 43. This engagement causes the hammer 43 to be moved rearwardly, the pin 4! moving within the slot 44 toward the front end 45 thereof. Continued clockwise return movement of the trigger 32 and rearward sliding movement of the hammer 43 enables the cam member. 55 to ratchet past and beneath cam surfaces 53, 54 until the original position of the trigger 32 before actuation is reached, such original position being shown in Figure 2. After the cam member 55 of trigger 32 has rotated past and beneath the cam surface 53, the tension spring 48 will urge the hammer 43 forwardly so as to cause the rear end 45 of the slot 44 to engage the pin 41. When the trigger 32 is again actuated, the above-described cycle of actuation of the hammer 43 is repeated, thereby providing a realistic firing motion of the hammer 42 every time the trigger 32 is pulled.

The toy gun embodying the present invention may be loaded with toy bullets B in the following manner. It will be noted that the cylinder I3 is provided with seven bullet chambers I5 and may assume any one of seven different angular positions when the trigger actuating mechanism is at rest. In any one of these positions one of the bullet chambers I5 will be located in the position of the bullet chamber designated I5 in Figure 3 so that the forward open end of the chamber I5 is not covered by the plate 3|. A

bullet B is then inserted into the bullet chamber and against the action of the coil spring 29 thereby compressing the latter. While the bullet B is pressed rearwardly against the spring 29 by the finger of the operator, the cylinder 13 is manually rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3 as to bring the next bullet chamber 15 into the exposed position. This loading operation is repeated until six of the seven chambers 15 have been loaded with bullets B.

After the gun is loaded with bullets B, it may be fired so as to operate in the following manner. It will be noted that the plate 39 is provided with a circular opening 5'! (Fig. 2) coinciding with the opening in the rear end of the barrel l2. It will be seen that the coil springs 29 urge the bullets B within the chambers l5 forwardly into abutment with the cover plate 30, the latter acting as a closure means for maintaining the bullets B within the chambers l5. Therefore, when a particular chamber 15 has been moved into alignment with the opening 51 in the plate 30, the forward open end of said chamber I5 is no longer covered and there is nothing to prevent the bullet B from being propelled forwardly out of the chamber I5 by the action of the compression spring 29. Therefore, when a, particular chamber 15 has been moved into alignment with the opening 57 of the barrel [2, the coil spring 29 will eject the bullet B therefrom and propel the bullet through the barrel l2 and forwardly from the forward end thereof.

The cylinder I3 is intermittently rotated so as to bring the chambers l5 successively into alignment with the barrel I2 by means of the trigger 32, pawl 34, and ratchet notches 33. When the trigger 32 is pulled to the right as viewed in Figure 2, the pawl 34 will be moved upwardly so as to rotate the cylinder IS in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 5. The projecting member 33 on the trigger 32 will then engage the next succeeding abutment 3! on the cylinder cap it so as to stop the cylinder [3 from rotating when the next succeeding chamber I5 is moved into correct alignment with the barrel !2 and t-e opening 51 in the plate 30. Furthermore, actuation of the trigger 32 also causes the hammer 43 to simultaneously undergo a firing stroke, as described in detail above.

It is to be understood that the specific embodiment of the invention as shown in the drawing and described in the specification is intended to be merely illustrative of one of the many forms which the invention may take in practice and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, the latter being delineated in the appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

A toy gun comprising a frame, a tubular barrel fixed thereto, a cylinder having a plurality of bullet chambers extending parallel to the barrel axis and communicating exteriorly of the cylinder at the forward end thereof, means rotatably mounting the cylinder on the frame about an axis parallel to and offset from the barrel axis, said chambers being disposed in a circular path about the cylinder axis of rotation and being radially spaced from said cylinder axis of rotation a distance equal to the offset distance between said cylinder axis of rotation and the barrel axis whereby rotation of the cylinder will cause the chambers to be successively aligned with the barrel, a coil spring within each of said chambers and coaxial therewith, each of said coil springs having a rearward end fixed to and abutting against the rear portion of a respective chamber, a plate fixed to the frame and extending over and immediately adjacent a portion of the forward end of the cylinder, said plate having an openin therethrough through which said barrel communicates with the chamber in re istry therewith, and means for rotating the cylinder, said means for rotating the cylinder comprising a trigger movably mounted on the frame, ratchet means on the cylinder, a pawl pivot-ally mounted on said trigger, and spring means urging said pawl into engagement with said ratchet means, means for stopping rotation of the cylinder when the next succeeding bullet chamber has been moved into alignment with said barrel, said stopping means comprising a plurality of spaced abutments on said cylinder and a member projecting from the trigger and engaging one of said abutments when the trigger has been moved to rotate the cylinder, and a hammer provided with a longitudinal approximately forwardly extending slot having closed opposite ends, a pin secured to the frame and extending through said slot, spring means urging the hammer forwardly so as to maintain the rearward end of the slot in engagement with said pin and also tending to pivot the hammer forwardly about the pin, a cam surf-ace on the hammer, said trigger being provided with a cam member engaging said hammer cam surface so as to pivot the hammer rearwardly about the pin in response to actuation movement of the trigger, said cam member engaging said hammer cam surface so as to slide the hammer rearwardly with respect to the pin and thereby ratchet past the hammer cam surface in response to movement of the trigger in a direction opposite to said actuation movement.

IRVING ROSENBLOOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 278,005 Fredricks et a1 May 22, 1883 283,185 Aldrich Aug. 14:, 1883 I 1,211,870 Newton Jan. 9, 1917 1,302,332 Du Pont Apr. 29, 1919 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 987,986 France Apr. 25, 1951 

